"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the
animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel
nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest
lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."
Samuel Adams, (1722-1803)

Monday, August 20, 2012

How Todd Akin And Paul Ryan Partnered To Redefine Rape

Earlier today, Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) claimed that “legitimate rape”
does not often lead to pregnancy because “the female body has ways to
try to shut that whole thing down.” This is not the first time the
biologically challenged senate candidate tried to minimize the impact of
rape. Last year, Akin joined with GOP vice presidential candidate Rep.
Paul Ryan (R-WI) as two of the original co-sponsors of the “No Taxpayer
Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill which, among other things, introduced
the country to the bizarre term “forcible rape.”

Federal law prevents federal Medicaid funds and similar programs from paying for abortions. Yet the law also contains an exception for women who are raped.
The bill Akin and Ryan cosponsored would have narrowed this exception,
providing that only pregnancies arising from “forcible rape” may be
terminated. Because the primary target of Akin and Ryan’s effort are
Medicaid recipients — patients who are unlikely to be able to afford an
abortion absent Medicaid funding — the likely impact of this bill would
have been forcing many rape survivors to carry their rapist’s baby to term. Michelle Goldberg explains who Akin and Ryan would likely target:

Under H.R. 3, only victims of “forcible rape” would qualify for federally funded abortions. Victims
of statutory rape—say, a 13-year-old girl impregnated by a 30-year-old
man—would be on their own. So would victims of incest if they’re over
18. And while “forcible rape” isn’t defined in the criminal code, the
addition of the adjective seems certain to exclude acts of rape that
don’t involve overt violence—say, cases where a woman is drugged or has a
limited mental capacity. “It’s basically putting more restrictions on what was defined historically as rape,” says Keenan.

Although a version of this bill passed the GOP-controlled House, the “forcible rape” language was eventually removed
due to widespread public outcry. Paul Ryan, however, believes that the
“forcible rape” language does not actually go far enough to force women
to carry their rapist’s baby. Ryan believes that abortion should be illegal in all cases except for “cases in which a doctor deems an abortion necessary to save the mother’s life.” So rape survivors are out of luck.

And, of course, as we learned today, Akin isn’t even sure that “legitimate” rape survivors can get pregnant in the first place.